markbousfield

1989
Broken mirror blue
caught a-cussing the consequences of fear
and fragrant retributions sat in glass eavesdropping

the taught snarl of talons dug in
driving to Southport and entrails of sand
found in the size 4 baby shoe

our knees scraped on carpets
with furious ideas
fervently chemical and dangerous

Conversations until 5am
piquante cigarillos
and steamy coffee

black

I carry your spare parts under my arm
the scratches on your palm bigger than Africa

the spray, not the continent

sage in advice
and absent from school we had nothing to do
even in the times out of cholera

firm footsteps on the railway bank
climbing that tree
with your dog following closely behind
playing soldiers in the woods
more of a copse actually
a playground battlefield
Stalingrad and bed wetting

Together we were the lino winos
forever in the streets of the North in the 80s